3 Times Rock Musicians Fought Back Against Unfair Record Labels (And Won)

Musicians and their record labels haven’t always had the greatest relationships. Even the biggest names in rock music have fought tough battles against their labels, mostly for their creative freedom or right to fair pay. The following rock musicians, specifically, managed to be victorious in their efforts. Let’s dive in, shall we?

1. A Day To Remember

If you’re a diehard pop-punk or metalcore fan, you probably remember A Day To Remember’s (ha!) battle with Victory Records. In fact, quite a few musicians were beefing with this label in the 2010s. A Day To Remember, though, took the label on with full force.

In 2016, the band won their case against Victory Records following a five-year-long fight, coming out with over $4 million. The band took on the label over withholding digital royalties they had earned. Before then, though, a judge allowed the band to release an independent record titled Common Courtesy in 2013, which took a few jabs at Victory in its lyrics.

2. Amy Lee (Evanescence)

In this case of musicians who fought their record labels, Amy Lee (and the whole of Evanescence) was clearly in the right, though their way of describing it was a little bit funny. 

Lee took Wind Up Records to court back in 2014, claiming that the label was intentionally trying to sabotage Evanescence by employing promoters who weren’t in line with Evanescence’s values. Specifically, the band claimed that Wind Up “hatched a plot to sabotage Evanescence by replacing its promoters with a bunch of idiots who ended up torpedoing the group with lame ideas.” Allegedly, the label also withheld over $1.5 million in royalties from the band. The band would be freed from the label later that year and successfully go independent.

3. Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)

If you love Nine Inch Nails, you’re probably familiar with this example of musicians who fought their record labels and won. Trent Reznor got into a battle with Universal Records after the company increased the cost of NIN’s album Year Zero in certain markets. This battle wasn’t exactly “legal”, but it was a battle nonetheless.

Reznor took to the internet to tell his fans in Australia to illegally download NIN’s album to avoid paying the unfair prices set by the label. He would eventually be freed from Universal in 2007, and he said that he was glad to be able to “have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit.” A true artist, honestly.

Photo by John Shearer

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